[Extra. Lee Yeongwoo]
Lee Yeongwoo. 4th grade in elementary school.
Manifesting as a dominant omega, Lee Yeongwoo’s life was completely turned upside down.
“Are you Lee Junhak’s daughter?”
“Ah, I’m a son. Mother.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter if you’re dominant.”
Lee Hanna. LK Group’s head.
That person called Great Grandmother was tall, golden, and also scary.
“Yeongwoo-ya. From now on, Grandmother will teach you this and that. It’s a very important opportunity, so you have to seize it well, okay?”
“Why? I don’t like Grandmother because she’s scary…….”
“Yeongwoo-ya!”
Lee Yeongwoo’s parents were model guardians who gave him generous love.
However, from the day Lee Yeongwoo manifested as an omega, they began scolding him frequently.
“You love Mom and Dad, right?”
“Y-yes.”
“Then, listen to Mom and Dad.”
Lee Yeongwoo didn’t answer.
The next day, Lee Yeongwoo had to quit the art academy he’d been attending.
“From now on, Young Master, please follow this curriculum.”
Lee Yeongwoo busily went around various places following the people Grandmother sent.
Math, science, English, German, French, Spanish, piano, interviews with the coordinator teacher…….
He slept at school, and the driver waited on the way home from school.
With the murderous schedule, he lived always feeling a fatigue that seemed like his whole body would collapse.
Naturally, he gradually grew distant from his school friends.
That was the life of a dominant omega.
Half a year passed, and Lee Yeongwoo became a 5th grader.
“You draw well.”
“Huh, huh?”
It was said while pointing at a doodle drawn in the corner of the textbook.
The friend in the next seat who had been appreciating that small, trivial doodle continued to talk to Lee Yeongwoo after that.
“Yeongwoo, you’re really good at drawing.”
“Wh-what. This much is ordinary…….”
“I’m jealous. When you become an artist later, give me your autograph.”
“Wh-what are you talking about? You’re good enough at studying to be first in the whole school.”
“It’s elementary school level, so well…… Ah, no. Forget it.”
Baek Gunho.
That kid had eccentric aspects like talking to himself and shaking his head, but that degree of eccentricity didn’t really bother him.
The most important thing was that he was the first friend made in 5th grade.
“This is Kim Jaewook. He’s a soccer idiot, so ignore him appropriately.”
“I’m not an idiot, okay? Ah, was it Yeongwoo? Want to play soccer?”
“He’s an idiot, right?”
Then another new friend was made.
“Do you play Minecraft or League? Want to play together?”
“Uh, how do you do it……?”
“Let’s go to a PC room. I’ll teach you.”
“But I have tutoring…….”
“It’s okay to skip one day. Ah, Gunho said he’s going too?”
“I’ll go.”
For the first time in his life, he even skipped classes, going against Grandmother’s will.
Afterward, he was severely scolded by the teacher, but Lee Yeongwoo was still happy.
“Kim Jaewook smells like sweat, so go over there.”
“Yeongwoo, you’re too cold! So, want to play soccer?”
“Get lost!”
“Gunho’s joining.”
“I’ll go.”
Because it felt like returning to before becoming an omega.
He was happy because it felt like he’d regained Lee Yeongwoo’s life.
Then an incident occurred.
“Junseo-ya. You said you manifested as an alpha, right? Then it would be better to separate you from Yeongwoo’s seat.”
“What? Why?”
To Kim Jaewook’s question, the homeroom teacher answered while covering her mouth as if surprised.
“Oh my, didn’t you know? Yeongwoo is a dominant omega. It’ll be hard because of pheromones, so let’s have both Junseo and Yeongwoo be considerate of each other.”
“Okay.”
It was an answer without any malice, but Lee Yeongwoo shrank for no reason and looked around.
Everyone was just simply curious, and their attitude toward him didn’t change much, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness…….’
However,
Baek Gunho was different.
“D-dominant…… omega……?”
It was the first time seeing Baek Gunho make such a disgusted expression.
“Hey, Baek Gunho, where are you going? You promised to go to the PC room with Lee Yeongwoo today.”
“S-sorry……. Just…… give me…… time to think.”
Baek Gunho avoided him. Ran away.
The shock was great.
Even in 4th grade, when he’d grown distant from friends he’d been close to, his heart hadn’t hurt this much. But this time, it felt like his whole body was being buried in a huge swamp. That day, Lee Yeongwoo soaked his pillowcase with tears.
The very next day.
“I’m sorry. Yeongwoo-ya.”
Baek Gunho said while handing Lee Yeongwoo chocolate cookies.
“I just thought you were a regular boy…… a beta, and when I heard you were an omega, I was really surprised. You seemed a bit different…….”
“…….”
“But when I think about it, whether beta or omega, we’re all the same boys.”
“…….”
“Whether omega or not, Lee Yeongwoo is just Lee Yeongwoo. Right?”
After seeing Baek Gunho’s smile spreading wide like that…….
Lee Yeongwoo strangely experienced a phenomenon where his heartbeat intensified and the capillaries in his face expanded whenever he went to school.
‘I’m just me.’
Right. What does it matter that I’m a dominant omega?
I have the right to live my life.
Lee Yeongwoo, who gained courage from Baek Gunho’s words, immediately conveyed his intention to Grandmother.
That he wanted to stop all his current classes and learn art again.
“Who is it? The bastard putting foolish ideas in your head.”
However, Grandmother was firm.
“As expected, it would be better to change schools. Isn’t it because the kid attends such a low-quality commoner school that he’s become so stupid?”
Changing schools.
That meant parting with his friend.
“G-Grandmother! I’m sorry! I was wrong!”
Only after kneeling for 3 hours and begging for forgiveness did Grandmother withdraw her intention.
From middle school, probably…… he’d be separated from Gunho.
Until then, Lee Yeongwoo decided to cherish this connection.
For the remaining 1 year, during that not-so-long time, as a precious friend.
“G-Gunho…… became an alpha?!”
But that feeling didn’t last long.
“Yeah. He says he’ll rest for a few days and come to school. So, will you play soccer?”
“Get lost.”
Lee Yeongwoo refused with a cheerful smile, then sat down and buried his head on the desk.
‘What kind of scent will Gunho have……?’
His heartbeat quickened even more. But it wasn’t an entirely unpleasant sensation.
‘I’m glad I was born a dominant omega.’
For the first time in his life, it seemed he could love the fate of being born into this family.
Three days later, Lee Yeongwoo came to school earlier than anyone else.
In the classroom where no one was present yet, he endlessly wondered when that unfamiliar pheromone he’d never smelled would come…… repeatedly looking out the window while just dotting innocent paper with his mechanical pencil. On the practice notebook page was a drawing of a character resembling Gunho smiling brightly.
He exchanged greetings with friends entering the classroom. When some time had passed like that.
“……!”
An unfamiliar scent tickled the tip of his nose.
Choi Yeonseo, an omega friend in the same class, didn’t seem to know yet.
That only he, a ‘dominant’ omega, could detect this faint scent. Why did this feel so joyful?
Lee Yeongwoo immediately kicked off from his seat and left.
‘It’s Gunho!’
Far away, from the school gate, a familiar silhouette could be seen.
He naturally ignored Kim Jaewook who was beside him.
“Baek Gunho?”
Only one scent.
He was simply intoxicated by the refreshing scent like a forest path on a summer day.
“W-wow! A-a-alpha! How did you, Gunho, become an alpha? C-congratulations, for now?”
He couldn’t come to his senses from that smell.
Words didn’t come out properly, so he rambled incoherently.
“You, you know too, right? I’m an omega. But they said my pheromones are especially strong, so alphas might…… h-have a hard time. So I, usually, pheromone suppression practice? I did a lot of that kind of thing! Anyway……!”
Gathering courage like that, he asked Baek Gunho.
“Is my scent okay?”
Right after that.
“Uweeeeek.”
“G-Gunho-ya?!”
“Ahhh! Baek Gunho died!”
Until the ambulance loaded the collapsed Baek Gunho and left the school, Lee Yeongwoo stood rooted to the spot, blankly staring in the direction where the car had disappeared.
A few days later, Baek Gunho returned.
“……G-Gunho?”
3M safety goggles. KF99 mask 5 layers. Despite it being midsummer, wearing a long-sleeved turtleneck and long pants, gloves securely on, sweating profusely in a bizarre getup.
Lee Yeongwoo was even more shocked than the day Baek Gunho had avoided him.
“Class 3 everyone. Gunho says his body isn’t well. Alpha and omega friends, please keep your distance from Gunho as much as possible.”
Lee Yeongwoo, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, didn’t dare approach Baek Gunho while reading the atmosphere.
Then when he gathered courage and tried to approach closely, Kim Jaewook blocked him.
“……What, Kim Jaewook?”
“If you have something to say to Gunho, say it to me.”
“Why! Are you some kind of messenger or something?”
As his face heated up, he felt pheromones bursting out from his entire body.
Pheromones coming out arbitrarily according to emotions is common. When Lee Yeongwoo was emitting pheromones as much as possible like that.
“Urk……!”
Suddenly Baek Gunho stood up from his seat and staggered out to the hallway.
Lee Yeongwoo and Kim Jaewook hurriedly followed, but Baek Gunho had already entered the bathroom.
“G-Gunho, why is he like that……?”
“I don’t really know either. It’s a disease.”
“A disease? What disease?”
Kim Jaewook said while scratching his cheek.
“Was it a disease where you die if pheromones touch you?”
Lee Yeongwoo was devastated.
‘I wish I hadn’t been born…… an omega.’
Not even a few days after blessing his fate, he came to curse it again.
A while later, Baek Gunho changed classes. The school had shown consideration out of concern for Baek Gunho’s constitution.
It had been several days since Lee Yeongwoo, who’d been reading the atmosphere, had been hanging around far from the vicinity of the class Gunho moved to.
Baek Gunho appeared wearing safety goggles and a mask.
“Yeongwoo-ya.”
“G-Gunho……!”
“Sorry. Please don’t come any closer.”
Baek Gunho raised his hand to stop Lee Yeongwoo, who had been about to run over in delight.
“Actually, your pheromones…… are a bit difficult for me.”
“Ah, ah…… Yeah, sorry……!”
“I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“G-Gunho, why are you sorry!”
“I threw up in front of you. You were really surprised, right?”
“N-no! I wasn’t surprised at all!”
Of course it was a lie.
Watching Baek Gunho being loaded into the ambulance, Lee Yeongwoo could feel keenly what adults meant by the ‘feeling of blood running cold.’
“Yeongwoo-ya. It seems like we can’t hang out together like before.”
“…….”
It can’t be helped. Gunho is sick.
But to not be able to be with a close friend anymore…….
It couldn’t be helped that Lee Yeongwoo’s eyes moistened.
“But, there must be some way.”
“……Huh?”
“The doctor said it’s an incurable disease, a complete cure is difficult, but there must be ways to alleviate it. So don’t worry too much.”
The distance between them was about 30 steps.
They were far apart from each other, but somehow to Lee Yeongwoo’s eyes, the gap with Baek Gunho seemed to be gradually narrowing.
“Wait until then.”
“…….”
“So we can smile and play soccer again, and play games too.”
Inwardly, he’d been giving up. That there would be no more chances to meet Baek Gunho.
But Baek Gunho promised the future.
Although his expression wasn’t clearly visible, beyond the hazy safety goggles, his grayish-white eyes were shining vividly.
“……Yeah!”
Those were the pretty eyes he liked.
And then.
“Hello.”
A child came.
After that, Lee Yeongwoo never met Baek Gunho again.
